Breaks from drinking are important. I’m hardly one to preach about abstinence, but I am a firm believer in moderation  – or at least as was once famously said ‘All things in moderation, including moderation’.

I have flirted with the idea of giving up alcohol entirely, at times. But the magical feeling of being very slightly tipsy, combined with the heights of delciousness that wine can reach, always pulls me back. Also I’m sorry, but I’m just not that puritanical.

I have done my best with non-alcoholic wine, but quite frankly I haven’t found one that I’d enjoy drinking. Yes, some are decent – even good, but they don’t quite hit the spot. I can see a point in the future when non-alcoholic wine has reached the quality found in non-alcoholic beer, which does get quite close to the real thing. I just don’t think we’re there yet.

However, the non-alcoholic aperitif is for me where the category really reaches its peak of quality. There are more than a few of these that really scratch the itch in that six-o-clock witching hour, where playing music in the kitchen while lazily stirring a pot just cries out for a glass of wine or simple cocktail.

A few notable names are Pentire, Botivo and Bowser – all delicious and ‘grown-up’ enough to mean you don’t feel like you may as well be having a glass of orange squash.

So, while I will not be renouncing alcohol altogether, the proliferation of high quality alternative options certainly means that taking breaks is much easier.